COUNTY LIES, CATS WILL DIE

Men arrive late Sunday evening to board up more than 40 crawlspaces. They are using plywood to seal the holes. See all the plywood in the vehicle? Cats were seen darting into the crawlspaces, this is where they go when they sense danger. Don Knabe has turned their "homes" into their graves.

Please, call Don Knabe's office. (213) 974-4444

Why was it neccessary to board up the cats underneath the building?? AC has been trapping the cats since October 25, and they have not fed the cats nor allowed anyone else to feed the cats. Why, on top of all this, is he boarding up the crawlspaces with the cats trapped inside? Is it easier to have them all die underneath the building, instead of trapping them??

• His office will might say that they have left 1 opening per building for the cats and that they are using wire mesh screens to cover the openings.

We are talking about 3 huge buildings. 2 of these openings are hidden from view. Why? Why didn't they leave the openings on 2 of the main buildings where they would be seen from the street. Why hide them from view? Are they really open? How do we know? They are NOT using wire mesh, they are using plywood boards.

How do we know that the path to these exits is clear? Nobody went down there to check. Nobody evacuated all the cats and other animals living underneath the buildings. If they manage to find the exit, in time, they won't be able to escape, as there is a holding pen right outside the exit. As we have seen in the past, cats will start pawing at the board. They will try to escape from their usual exit not a new one hundreds of feet away.

• They might also say that the reason for doing this is because the buildings will come down anyway and they want to ensure the safety.

Ask when these buildings will come down? They won't give you a good answer. It could be 5, 10, 15 years. There simply isn't any money, which is puzzling to me why the County would be spending so much money on building a fence around a building that will torn down. Aside from that the manpower to have an animal control officer trap everyday along with the police escorts they initially had, and now the boarding up of the buildings.

On November 13, 2008 Don Knabe held his second annual State of the County Address. The press telegram ran the story and titles it Supervisor warns county finances are facing disaster. He explains how the department had to tap into the reserves to balance this years budget. Towards the end of his speech he said in regards to any possible problem that may arise,

"We're going to keep our minds wide open for solutions, we're going to listen to you for solutions..."

There is no possible excuse or lie the County might come up with that makes this ok. None. The boards need to be removed immediately. These cats lives are in immediate danger.